The unidentified man was driving a water tender, also known as a tanker, that can supply thousands of gallons of water to firefighters.

He was driving into Napa Valley's Robert Mondavi Winery to help battle blazes when he apparently lost control of the car, a California fire official confirmed to ABC News.

"Fatigue is [potentially] a factor," the official said.

His death comes after fire officials in California said they "turned a corner" on what has been one of the deadliest outbreaks of wildfires ever to hit the state.

"Conditions have drastically changed from just 24 hours ago, and that is definitely a very good sign," said Daniel Berlant, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, on Sunday. "It's probably a sign we've turned a corner on these fires," he said, noting that some of the fires were 50 percent or more contained.

"A week ago this started as a nightmare, and the day we dreamed of has arrived," Napa County Supervisor Belia Ramos said Sunday.

Officials warned, however, that 14 large fires are still not fully contained and remain dangerous.

So far, 40,000 people have been evacuated. Officials said thousands of displaced residents are being permitted to return home to areas deemed safe.

The blazes have raged out of control for over a week, killing at least 41. In Sonoma County, 88 people remain unaccounted for, officials said Monday afternoon. Nearly 700 are in shelters in Santa Rosa, which is a part of the county.

They have destroyed some 5,700 homes and other buildings and charred more than 213,000 acres, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Santa Rosa, a city of 175,000 in Sonoma County, was among the hardest-hit areas, with at least 2,834 homes, businesses and other buildings destroyed there. Critical infrastructure was also lost in the flames, including the city's fire station, according to Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Coursey.

Emergency vehicles have since returned to Santa Rosa police headquarters so crews can recuperate, and forecasters predict that Santa Rosa could get a dose of rain by Thursday.

The glimmer of hope in the fire-ravaged Wine Country comes after emergency personnel carried out mandatory evacuations in northern California on Saturday and as firefighters fought what had been 16 large wildfires around the state that authorities say leveled entire neighborhoods.

]]>David McNew/Getty Images(SANTA ROSA, Calif.) -- A possibly weary contracted driver of a water truck helping to fight California's wildfires died Monday morning after his truck veered off the road and rolled over, officials said.

The unidentified man was driving a water tender, also known as a tanker, that can supply thousands of gallons of water to firefighters.

He was driving into Napa Valley's Robert Mondavi Winery to help battle blazes when he apparently lost control of the car, a California fire official confirmed to ABC News.

"Fatigue is [potentially] a factor," the official said.

His death comes after fire officials in California said they "turned a corner" on what has been one of the deadliest outbreaks of wildfires ever to hit the state.

"Conditions have drastically changed from just 24 hours ago, and that is definitely a very good sign," said Daniel Berlant, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, on Sunday. "It's probably a sign we've turned a corner on these fires," he said, noting that some of the fires were 50 percent or more contained.

"A week ago this started as a nightmare, and the day we dreamed of has arrived," Napa County Supervisor Belia Ramos said Sunday.

Officials warned, however, that 14 large fires are still not fully contained and remain dangerous.

So far, 40,000 people have been evacuated. Officials said thousands of displaced residents are being permitted to return home to areas deemed safe.

The blazes have raged out of control for over a week, killing at least 41. In Sonoma County, 88 people remain unaccounted for, officials said Monday afternoon. Nearly 700 are in shelters in Santa Rosa, which is a part of the county.

They have destroyed some 5,700 homes and other buildings and charred more than 213,000 acres, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Santa Rosa, a city of 175,000 in Sonoma County, was among the hardest-hit areas, with at least 2,834 homes, businesses and other buildings destroyed there. Critical infrastructure was also lost in the flames, including the city's fire station, according to Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Coursey.

Emergency vehicles have since returned to Santa Rosa police headquarters so crews can recuperate, and forecasters predict that Santa Rosa could get a dose of rain by Thursday.

The glimmer of hope in the fire-ravaged Wine Country comes after emergency personnel carried out mandatory evacuations in northern California on Saturday and as firefighters fought what had been 16 large wildfires around the state that authorities say leveled entire neighborhoods.

]]>Search for missing worker continues after oil rig explodes in Louisianahttp://www.ksyl.com/national/212b162111642d5a11192bdd66279533
Mon, 16 Oct 2017 11:36:00 -0500http://www.ksyl.com/national/212b162111642d5a11192bdd66279533Erik Hanson(NEW ORLEANS) -- A desperate search for a missing Louisiana worker has continued into Monday after an explosion occurred on a large oil rig Sunday night, authorities confirmed to ABC News.

The Kenner Police Department said it fielded a flurry of 911 calls at 7:18 p.m. Sunday after witnesses heard a loud explosion and reported seeing a large fireball and cloud around Lake Pontchartrain, which is just north of New Orleans.

Lt. Brian McGregor told ABC News that after their phones line lit up, boats were launched by Kenner Police Department and Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries "within seconds." The crews assisted seven injured workers and transported another four stranded workers aboard the rig to shore, but one victim remains unaccounted for.

"We wanted to get to those people," McGregor told ABC News. "I was there when the boat came in with seven people."

The majority of victims suffered burn injuries, McGregor said.

Five workers in critical condition were rushed to University Medical Center, a level 1 trauma center, and two others were taken to East Jefferson General Hospital. Michael Guillot, director of East Jefferson Emergency Medical Services, said the victims suffered "blast-type injuries and burns."

Two workers, according to McGregor, who were more stable at the time were transported to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to receive treatment for fire-related injuries.

Clovelly Oil Company, the owner of the oil rig, released a statement about the fire and its oil and gas production on the platform.

The company said three of the injured were employees and four others were contractors from other companies hired to work on the rig.

The missing worker was also a contractor, the statement added.

Search efforts for the missing person continue, Coast Guard officials confirmed, including two rescue boats and a helicopter crew, but weather conditions have complicated the search.

The blaze has been mostly contained, Jefferson Parish fire officials said at a press conference. The only flame still active on the rig is a shutoff gas light that officials anticipate will burn out on its own.

Initially, officials cautioned that oil could leak into Lake Pontchartrain, but the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Department and the U.S. Coast Guard stated today that they do not see evidence of environmental issues, so far, and that no oil sheen has surfaced.

Clovelly stressed that it is working with local authorities to contain the fire and that three oil wells "shut in" when the blast occurred.

The company said the shut-in took place "shortly after the explosion," but is unsure about whether oil leaked into Lake Pontchartrain.

"Clovelly does not know if any oil was discharged into the lake," the statement read.

At the time of the blast, "routine maintenance was being conducted on the platform," according to the company's statement.

The City of Kenner posted on its Facebook page Sunday evening that "Authorities on the scene report that cleaning chemicals ignited on the surface of the oil rig platform."

McGregor said it was too early to confirm the cause of the blast.

"We won't know until you get on the rig to see what kind of maintenance was being done," he said.

The lieutenant, a seasoned veteran, was shocked by the incident.

"I've been here 23 years and this is the first time anything like this happened," McGregor said.

]]>Erik Hanson(NEW ORLEANS) -- A desperate search for a missing Louisiana worker has continued into Monday after an explosion occurred on a large oil rig Sunday night, authorities confirmed to ABC News.

The Kenner Police Department said it fielded a flurry of 911 calls at 7:18 p.m. Sunday after witnesses heard a loud explosion and reported seeing a large fireball and cloud around Lake Pontchartrain, which is just north of New Orleans.

Lt. Brian McGregor told ABC News that after their phones line lit up, boats were launched by Kenner Police Department and Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries "within seconds." The crews assisted seven injured workers and transported another four stranded workers aboard the rig to shore, but one victim remains unaccounted for.

"We wanted to get to those people," McGregor told ABC News. "I was there when the boat came in with seven people."

The majority of victims suffered burn injuries, McGregor said.

Five workers in critical condition were rushed to University Medical Center, a level 1 trauma center, and two others were taken to East Jefferson General Hospital. Michael Guillot, director of East Jefferson Emergency Medical Services, said the victims suffered "blast-type injuries and burns."

Two workers, according to McGregor, who were more stable at the time were transported to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to receive treatment for fire-related injuries.

Clovelly Oil Company, the owner of the oil rig, released a statement about the fire and its oil and gas production on the platform.

The company said three of the injured were employees and four others were contractors from other companies hired to work on the rig.

The missing worker was also a contractor, the statement added.

Search efforts for the missing person continue, Coast Guard officials confirmed, including two rescue boats and a helicopter crew, but weather conditions have complicated the search.

The blaze has been mostly contained, Jefferson Parish fire officials said at a press conference. The only flame still active on the rig is a shutoff gas light that officials anticipate will burn out on its own.

Initially, officials cautioned that oil could leak into Lake Pontchartrain, but the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Department and the U.S. Coast Guard stated today that they do not see evidence of environmental issues, so far, and that no oil sheen has surfaced.

Clovelly stressed that it is working with local authorities to contain the fire and that three oil wells "shut in" when the blast occurred.

The company said the shut-in took place "shortly after the explosion," but is unsure about whether oil leaked into Lake Pontchartrain.

"Clovelly does not know if any oil was discharged into the lake," the statement read.

At the time of the blast, "routine maintenance was being conducted on the platform," according to the company's statement.

The City of Kenner posted on its Facebook page Sunday evening that "Authorities on the scene report that cleaning chemicals ignited on the surface of the oil rig platform."

McGregor said it was too early to confirm the cause of the blast.

"We won't know until you get on the rig to see what kind of maintenance was being done," he said.

The lieutenant, a seasoned veteran, was shocked by the incident.

"I've been here 23 years and this is the first time anything like this happened," McGregor said.

Bergdahl drew international headlines after he left his Army outpost in Afghanistan over eight years ago.

He was captured and held by the Taliban for almost five years until his release was negotiated in 2014 by the Obama administration as part of a prisoner exchange. Upon his return to the United States, Bergdahl returned to duty while an investigation probed the circumstances surrounding his disappearance. He was formally charged in March 2015.

The misbehavior before the enemy charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, though sentencing won't occur until later this month. Judge Jeffrey Nance, presiding over the case, questioned Bergdahl Monday to ensure he understood the charges and consequences of pleading guilty.

In interviews with the podcast "Serial" in December 2015, Bergdahl explained that his lack of confidence in leadership at Combat Outpost Mest-Malak in Paktika Province, Afghanistan prompted his decision to embark on an 18-mile hike to a nearby base to report his concerns. He said he realized he made a mistake only 20 minutes after leaving his base.

Republicans in Washington were critical of Bergdahl's negotiated release in 2014, portraying the Obama administration as having negotiated with terrorists. A 2015 report by Republican members of the House Armed Services Committee argued that Congress was misled by the administration about the exchange, which released five Taliban prisoners in Guantanamo Bay to Qatar.

President Donald Trump frequently assailed Bergdahl during last year's presidential campaign, referring to the soldier at times as a "dirty, rotten traitor" and a "bum." Attorneys for Bergdahl requested to have potential jurors answer questions about the president in a pre-trial questionnaire, though the trial's judge declined in June an attempt to include the question of whether those potential jurors voted for Trump.

In an interview recorded last year and obtained by ABC News, Bergdahl explained that because of Trump's statements, he did not believe he would be able to receive a fair trial.

“We may as well go back to kangaroo courts and lynch mobs that got what they wanted,” Bergdahl said. “The people who want to hang me, you’re never going to convince those people.”

]]>Sara D. Davis/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl pleaded guilty on Monday to charges of desertion with intention to shirk duty and misbehavior before the enemy stemming from his 2009 disappearance and capture by the Taliban.

Bergdahl drew international headlines after he left his Army outpost in Afghanistan over eight years ago.

He was captured and held by the Taliban for almost five years until his release was negotiated in 2014 by the Obama administration as part of a prisoner exchange. Upon his return to the United States, Bergdahl returned to duty while an investigation probed the circumstances surrounding his disappearance. He was formally charged in March 2015.

The misbehavior before the enemy charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, though sentencing won't occur until later this month. Judge Jeffrey Nance, presiding over the case, questioned Bergdahl Monday to ensure he understood the charges and consequences of pleading guilty.

In interviews with the podcast "Serial" in December 2015, Bergdahl explained that his lack of confidence in leadership at Combat Outpost Mest-Malak in Paktika Province, Afghanistan prompted his decision to embark on an 18-mile hike to a nearby base to report his concerns. He said he realized he made a mistake only 20 minutes after leaving his base.

Republicans in Washington were critical of Bergdahl's negotiated release in 2014, portraying the Obama administration as having negotiated with terrorists. A 2015 report by Republican members of the House Armed Services Committee argued that Congress was misled by the administration about the exchange, which released five Taliban prisoners in Guantanamo Bay to Qatar.

President Donald Trump frequently assailed Bergdahl during last year's presidential campaign, referring to the soldier at times as a "dirty, rotten traitor" and a "bum." Attorneys for Bergdahl requested to have potential jurors answer questions about the president in a pre-trial questionnaire, though the trial's judge declined in June an attempt to include the question of whether those potential jurors voted for Trump.

In an interview recorded last year and obtained by ABC News, Bergdahl explained that because of Trump's statements, he did not believe he would be able to receive a fair trial.

“We may as well go back to kangaroo courts and lynch mobs that got what they wanted,” Bergdahl said. “The people who want to hang me, you’re never going to convince those people.”

]]>Bowe Bergdahl doubts he could get a fair trial after Trump commentshttp://www.ksyl.com/national/fb63c045076c6e833c952291501b171a
Mon, 16 Oct 2017 06:40:00 -0500http://www.ksyl.com/national/fb63c045076c6e833c952291501b171aSara D. Davis/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Former Taliban prisoner Bowe Bergdahl is expected to plead guilty to charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy in a military hearing that begins at Fort Bragg as he doubts that he could get a fair trial following campaign statements by Donald Trump.

Despite surviving five years in a Taliban cage, Trump had called Sgt. Bergdahl a "traitor" who should be executed in several campaign speeches as a presidential candidate.

In an on-camera interview shot last year by a British filmmaker, obtained exclusively by ABC News and airing on Good Morning America, World News Tonight with David Muir and Nightline, Bergdahl says the words of the man who is now his commander-in-chief would have made a fair trial impossible.

“We may as well go back to kangaroo courts and lynch mobs that got what they wanted,” Bergdahl said. “The people who want to hang me, you’re never going to convince those people.”

The 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment trooper walked off his combat outpost in Afghanistan in June 2009 and was immediately captured by the Taliban. During his five years in captivity with the Haqqani network, the same Taliban faction that held American Caitlan Coleman and her family hostage for five years until being freed last Wednesday, Bergdahl endured what one U.S. official called the worst case of prisoner abuse since the Vietnam War.

He was released in 2014 in exchange for five Taliban prisoners who had been detained at Guantanamo Bay, a deal that was harshly criticized on the campaign trail by then-candidate Trump, who called Bergdahl "garbage” and even suggested that he should have been summarily executed.

“You know in the old days, Bing. Bong,” Trump said as he mimicked firing a rifle. “When we were strong.”

Speaking to British war filmmaker Sean Langan, who was himself held captive by the same Taliban group in 2008, Bergdahl says he wants to fight back against what he calls a false narrative fueled by conservative outlets like Fox News that sought to portray him as a traitor and jihadi sympathizer who had been convinced to fight against the United States alongside his captors.

Such rumors were false, military officials have said.

“You know, it’s just insulting frankly,” Bergdahl told Langan. “It’s very insulting, the idea that they would think I did that.”

In 2014, then Fox News correspondents Megyn Kelly and James Rosen reported on “secret documents” obtained by the network which purported to show that Bergdahl had “shown affection” for his captors, converted to Islam and become a “Mujahidin,” or jihadi, himself.

According to Bergdahl, however, he thought the conditions in captivity might kill him before his captors could.

“It was getting so bad that I was literally looking at myself, you know, looking at joints, looking my ribs and just going, ‘I’m gonna die here from sickness, or I can die escaping,’” Bergdahl said. “You know, it didn’t really matter.”

He attempted to escape twice, according to military officials, and he was severely punished after being re-captured. Terrence Russell, a military official who debriefs former U.S. captives for the U.S. Joint Personnel Recovery Agency, says Bergdahl was tortured in a way reminiscent of the brutality visited upon prisoners of war in Vietnam decades ago.

“When they recaptured him and brought him back, the next day they spread-eagled and secured him to a metal bed frame,” Russell says to Langan in another video. “They took a plastic pipe … and they started beating his feet and his legs repeatedly with this plastic pipe. … The idea was to just beat him and injure his legs and his feet so that he could not walk away again.”

Bergdahl also says he was confined for more than four years to a cage that was only seven feet long and six feet wide.

“From first year,” Bergdahl said when asked how much time he spent in that cage. “So second, third, fourth and then into the fifth year.”

It remains a mystery, however, why Bergdahl walked off his post in the first place.

Another senior official who spoke to Langan for his documentary was retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who as the former head of intelligence for special operations in Afghanistan and then as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency was deeply involved in the early search for Bergdahl.

He also briefly served as President Trump’s national security adviser after working on his campaign, and he told Langan that he “absolutely” believes Bergdahl left the base with the intention to meet the Taliban.

But Bergdahl disputes that, claiming in a taped conversation with filmmaker Mark Boal that was broadcast in the second season of the Serial podcast that he walked off post in an attempt to report to senior officers that his platoon commander was “unfit” for his position.

Bergdahl has not been charged with any crime related to aiding the enemy.

Whatever his reasons were, at least two soldiers were seriously wounded during the search to find him, as ABC News first reported in 2014. Following his guilty plea, the question remaining before the military is what form of punishment Bergdahl deserves.

On that question, even Flynn doubted that justice would be best served by putting a former prisoner back in prison.

“So the guy deserted his men, his soldiers, his squad – no doubt,” Flynn said. “[But] I don’t think he should serve another day in any sort of confinement or jail, or anything like that because frankly even though he put himself into this situation to a degree, we, the United States government and the United States military, put him in Afghanistan.”

]]>Sara D. Davis/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Former Taliban prisoner Bowe Bergdahl is expected to plead guilty to charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy in a military hearing that begins at Fort Bragg as he doubts that he could get a fair trial following campaign statements by Donald Trump.

Despite surviving five years in a Taliban cage, Trump had called Sgt. Bergdahl a "traitor" who should be executed in several campaign speeches as a presidential candidate.

In an on-camera interview shot last year by a British filmmaker, obtained exclusively by ABC News and airing on Good Morning America, World News Tonight with David Muir and Nightline, Bergdahl says the words of the man who is now his commander-in-chief would have made a fair trial impossible.

“We may as well go back to kangaroo courts and lynch mobs that got what they wanted,” Bergdahl said. “The people who want to hang me, you’re never going to convince those people.”

The 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment trooper walked off his combat outpost in Afghanistan in June 2009 and was immediately captured by the Taliban. During his five years in captivity with the Haqqani network, the same Taliban faction that held American Caitlan Coleman and her family hostage for five years until being freed last Wednesday, Bergdahl endured what one U.S. official called the worst case of prisoner abuse since the Vietnam War.

He was released in 2014 in exchange for five Taliban prisoners who had been detained at Guantanamo Bay, a deal that was harshly criticized on the campaign trail by then-candidate Trump, who called Bergdahl "garbage” and even suggested that he should have been summarily executed.

“You know in the old days, Bing. Bong,” Trump said as he mimicked firing a rifle. “When we were strong.”

Speaking to British war filmmaker Sean Langan, who was himself held captive by the same Taliban group in 2008, Bergdahl says he wants to fight back against what he calls a false narrative fueled by conservative outlets like Fox News that sought to portray him as a traitor and jihadi sympathizer who had been convinced to fight against the United States alongside his captors.

Such rumors were false, military officials have said.

“You know, it’s just insulting frankly,” Bergdahl told Langan. “It’s very insulting, the idea that they would think I did that.”

In 2014, then Fox News correspondents Megyn Kelly and James Rosen reported on “secret documents” obtained by the network which purported to show that Bergdahl had “shown affection” for his captors, converted to Islam and become a “Mujahidin,” or jihadi, himself.

According to Bergdahl, however, he thought the conditions in captivity might kill him before his captors could.

“It was getting so bad that I was literally looking at myself, you know, looking at joints, looking my ribs and just going, ‘I’m gonna die here from sickness, or I can die escaping,’” Bergdahl said. “You know, it didn’t really matter.”

He attempted to escape twice, according to military officials, and he was severely punished after being re-captured. Terrence Russell, a military official who debriefs former U.S. captives for the U.S. Joint Personnel Recovery Agency, says Bergdahl was tortured in a way reminiscent of the brutality visited upon prisoners of war in Vietnam decades ago.

“When they recaptured him and brought him back, the next day they spread-eagled and secured him to a metal bed frame,” Russell says to Langan in another video. “They took a plastic pipe … and they started beating his feet and his legs repeatedly with this plastic pipe. … The idea was to just beat him and injure his legs and his feet so that he could not walk away again.”

Bergdahl also says he was confined for more than four years to a cage that was only seven feet long and six feet wide.

“From first year,” Bergdahl said when asked how much time he spent in that cage. “So second, third, fourth and then into the fifth year.”

It remains a mystery, however, why Bergdahl walked off his post in the first place.

Another senior official who spoke to Langan for his documentary was retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who as the former head of intelligence for special operations in Afghanistan and then as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency was deeply involved in the early search for Bergdahl.

He also briefly served as President Trump’s national security adviser after working on his campaign, and he told Langan that he “absolutely” believes Bergdahl left the base with the intention to meet the Taliban.

But Bergdahl disputes that, claiming in a taped conversation with filmmaker Mark Boal that was broadcast in the second season of the Serial podcast that he walked off post in an attempt to report to senior officers that his platoon commander was “unfit” for his position.

Bergdahl has not been charged with any crime related to aiding the enemy.

Whatever his reasons were, at least two soldiers were seriously wounded during the search to find him, as ABC News first reported in 2014. Following his guilty plea, the question remaining before the military is what form of punishment Bergdahl deserves.

On that question, even Flynn doubted that justice would be best served by putting a former prisoner back in prison.

“So the guy deserted his men, his soldiers, his squad – no doubt,” Flynn said. “[But] I don’t think he should serve another day in any sort of confinement or jail, or anything like that because frankly even though he put himself into this situation to a degree, we, the United States government and the United States military, put him in Afghanistan.”

]]>Oil possibly leaking in Lake Pontchartrain after rig explosion injures 7; 1 missinghttp://www.ksyl.com/national/834e66ad0597cb449d436fca151994bf
Mon, 16 Oct 2017 03:58:00 -0500http://www.ksyl.com/national/834e66ad0597cb449d436fca151994bfErik Hanson(KENNER, La. ) -- Officials warned that oil may be leaking into Lake Pontchartrain near New Orleans after a large rig explosion injured at least 7 people and left one missing on Sunday.

Witnesses reported hearing loud explosions, seeing a large fireball and cloud of smoke after an oil transfer station went up in the lake near the city of Kenner, just outside New Orleans.

The Coast Guard said it was coordinating search efforts for the missing man and dispatched two rescue boats and a helicopter rescue crew. Local fire officials said the blaze was under control but that oil may be leaking into the lake.

Seven people were transferred to local hospitals. Five of them were initially taken to a trauma center and were listed in critical condition with "blast type injuries and burns," according to Michael Guillot, director of East Jefferson Emergency Medical Services

Early on Monday Guillot updated the trauma patients' conditions to one critical, three serious and one stable.

Investigators arrived on the scene Sunday and were looking into reports of cleaning chemicals on the rig triggering the blast, officials said.

]]>Erik Hanson(KENNER, La. ) -- Officials warned that oil may be leaking into Lake Pontchartrain near New Orleans after a large rig explosion injured at least 7 people and left one missing on Sunday.

Witnesses reported hearing loud explosions, seeing a large fireball and cloud of smoke after an oil transfer station went up in the lake near the city of Kenner, just outside New Orleans.

The Coast Guard said it was coordinating search efforts for the missing man and dispatched two rescue boats and a helicopter rescue crew. Local fire officials said the blaze was under control but that oil may be leaking into the lake.

Seven people were transferred to local hospitals. Five of them were initially taken to a trauma center and were listed in critical condition with "blast type injuries and burns," according to Michael Guillot, director of East Jefferson Emergency Medical Services

Early on Monday Guillot updated the trauma patients' conditions to one critical, three serious and one stable.

Investigators arrived on the scene Sunday and were looking into reports of cleaning chemicals on the rig triggering the blast, officials said.

]]>Minnesota father of 3 killed worst terror attack in Somalia's historyhttp://www.ksyl.com/national/2e5a23946ce5509bef60f1bb19c32096
Mon, 16 Oct 2017 02:35:00 -0500http://www.ksyl.com/national/2e5a23946ce5509bef60f1bb19c32096iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- A Minnesota father of three was one of more than 270 people who were killed in Somalia over the weekend when a pair of truck bombs went off in the country's capital, his family said. Authorities are calling it the deadliest terrorist attack in the nation’s history.

The attack left 276 people dead and around 300 others injured, the country's information minister, Abdirahman Osman, said late Sunday. The death toll is expected to rise.

Fifty-year-old Ahmed AbdiKarin Eyow arrived in his hometown of Mogadishu just hours before the deadly bomb went off, according to his family. He was resting in his hotel room when the blast struck, destroying the hotel and many other buildings in the surrounding area.

"We miss him so much,” Eyow's widow, Ruun Abdi Eyow, said at a press conference on Sunday. "I want people to know that he was a great father. He has two jobs, and my husband works very hard."

Born in Somalia, Eyow became a refugee when he fled the East African nation after its government collapsed in 1991, according to his mosque. He eventually settled in Minnesota in 1998.

"Ahmed was one of our most effective and active community members in our center," Mohamed Omar, executive director of the Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center, said at the news conference on Sunday.

Ahmed AbdiKarin Eyow left for Somalia on Oct. 7 “with great hope, looking forward to a chance to make a difference in his home country,” according to the Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, Minn., where Eyow attended daily prayer services.

“He was working as a welder but longed to return to his homeland of Somalia,” the center said in a statement on Sunday. “He thought that he could help bring back stability to Somalia by applying for a job as a representative with the UN.”

The Islamic center has set up a GoFundMe page to help raise money for the Eyow family.

The attack left 276 people dead and around 300 others injured, the country's information minister, Abdirahman Osman, said late Sunday. The death toll is expected to rise.

Fifty-year-old Ahmed AbdiKarin Eyow arrived in his hometown of Mogadishu just hours before the deadly bomb went off, according to his family. He was resting in his hotel room when the blast struck, destroying the hotel and many other buildings in the surrounding area.

"We miss him so much,” Eyow's widow, Ruun Abdi Eyow, said at a press conference on Sunday. "I want people to know that he was a great father. He has two jobs, and my husband works very hard."

Born in Somalia, Eyow became a refugee when he fled the East African nation after its government collapsed in 1991, according to his mosque. He eventually settled in Minnesota in 1998.

"Ahmed was one of our most effective and active community members in our center," Mohamed Omar, executive director of the Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center, said at the news conference on Sunday.

Ahmed AbdiKarin Eyow left for Somalia on Oct. 7 “with great hope, looking forward to a chance to make a difference in his home country,” according to the Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, Minn., where Eyow attended daily prayer services.

“He was working as a welder but longed to return to his homeland of Somalia,” the center said in a statement on Sunday. “He thought that he could help bring back stability to Somalia by applying for a job as a representative with the UN.”

The Islamic center has set up a GoFundMe page to help raise money for the Eyow family.

Despite one less fire, the bone-dry conditions and gusty Diablo Winds still haven't receded, forcing officials to not downgrade the "high fire danger" status, CAL Fire Deputy Incident Commander Chief Barry Biermann said during a press conference in Napa County on Sunday.

As Bierman gave the fire prognosis for the charred region, he stressed that we are "not out of the woods yet," but settled many questions by saying there's been "tremendous progress."

These low humidity, gusty wind conditions continue to mire first responders engaged in the fight to defeat the blazes that have turned to ash so much of the rolling hills that compromise the state's prized wine country.

Meanwhile, emergency vehicles have since returned to Santa Rosa Police headquarters so crews can recuperate, and forecasters predict that Santa Rosa could get a dose of rain by Thursday.

As a result, officials have placed the region 300 miles south under extreme fire weather warnings as well.

The glimmer of hope comes after emergency personnel carried out mandatory evacuations in Northern California on Saturday and as firefighters fought what had been 16 large wildfires around the state that authorities say left hundreds missing and leveled entire neighborhoods.

On Saturday night, officials announced the death toll increased from 38 to 40.

The blazes -- among the deadliest in the state's history -- have charred more than 217,000 acres of land, forced about 75,000 residents to evacuate and damaged or destroyed at least 5,700 homes and businesses, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Santa Rosa, a city of 175,000 in Sonoma County, was among the hardest-hit areas, with at least 2,834 homes, businesses and other buildings destroyed there. Critical infrastructure was also lost in the flames, including the city's fire station, according to Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Coursey.

With firefighters stretched thin throughout the Golden State, hundreds of additional fire engines and personnel have been requested from other states to help relieve crews on the front lines and to prepare for the possibility of more blazes, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Most of the fires ignited on the night of Oct. 8 or during the early morning hours of Oct. 9. Since then, several blazes have merged while some have been completely contained. The cause of the wildfires is still under investigation.

Here's a roundup of the largest fires still threatening California:

Central LNU Complex

The so-called Tubbs, Pocket and Nuns/Adobe/Norbbom/Pressley/Patrick fires are considered branches of one giant inferno — collectively known as the Central LNU Complex — in Napa and Sonoma counties. Nearly 34,000 structures are threatened, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Additional mandatory evacuation orders went into effect Saturday and Sunday morning for parts of Sonoma Valley and Santa Rosa.

The Atlas fire makes up another huge blaze, known as the Southern LNU Complex, in Napa and Solano counties that threatens 5,000 structures, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The Redwood/Potter fires and the Sulphur fire make up a giant blaze, known as the Mendocino Lake Complex, in Lake and Mendocino counties that collectively threatens 1,000 structures, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Altogether, the two fires have destroyed 544 structures and damaged 40 structures while threatening another 1,000.

The Cascade, La Porte and Lobo fires make up one a blaze in Butte, Nevada and Yuba counties, collectively known as the Wind Complex, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Altogether, the three fires have destroyed 365 structures and damaged 57 others.

]]>David McNew/Getty Images(SANTA ROSA, Calif.) -- For the nearly 11,000 firefighters battling the towering flames from now 15 wildfires around California, there is finally hope in a chance of rain.

Despite one less fire, the bone-dry conditions and gusty Diablo Winds still haven't receded, forcing officials to not downgrade the "high fire danger" status, CAL Fire Deputy Incident Commander Chief Barry Biermann said during a press conference in Napa County on Sunday.

As Bierman gave the fire prognosis for the charred region, he stressed that we are "not out of the woods yet," but settled many questions by saying there's been "tremendous progress."

These low humidity, gusty wind conditions continue to mire first responders engaged in the fight to defeat the blazes that have turned to ash so much of the rolling hills that compromise the state's prized wine country.

Meanwhile, emergency vehicles have since returned to Santa Rosa Police headquarters so crews can recuperate, and forecasters predict that Santa Rosa could get a dose of rain by Thursday.

As a result, officials have placed the region 300 miles south under extreme fire weather warnings as well.

The glimmer of hope comes after emergency personnel carried out mandatory evacuations in Northern California on Saturday and as firefighters fought what had been 16 large wildfires around the state that authorities say left hundreds missing and leveled entire neighborhoods.

On Saturday night, officials announced the death toll increased from 38 to 40.

The blazes -- among the deadliest in the state's history -- have charred more than 217,000 acres of land, forced about 75,000 residents to evacuate and damaged or destroyed at least 5,700 homes and businesses, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Santa Rosa, a city of 175,000 in Sonoma County, was among the hardest-hit areas, with at least 2,834 homes, businesses and other buildings destroyed there. Critical infrastructure was also lost in the flames, including the city's fire station, according to Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Coursey.

With firefighters stretched thin throughout the Golden State, hundreds of additional fire engines and personnel have been requested from other states to help relieve crews on the front lines and to prepare for the possibility of more blazes, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Most of the fires ignited on the night of Oct. 8 or during the early morning hours of Oct. 9. Since then, several blazes have merged while some have been completely contained. The cause of the wildfires is still under investigation.

Here's a roundup of the largest fires still threatening California:

Central LNU Complex

The so-called Tubbs, Pocket and Nuns/Adobe/Norbbom/Pressley/Patrick fires are considered branches of one giant inferno — collectively known as the Central LNU Complex — in Napa and Sonoma counties. Nearly 34,000 structures are threatened, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Additional mandatory evacuation orders went into effect Saturday and Sunday morning for parts of Sonoma Valley and Santa Rosa.

The Atlas fire makes up another huge blaze, known as the Southern LNU Complex, in Napa and Solano counties that threatens 5,000 structures, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The Redwood/Potter fires and the Sulphur fire make up a giant blaze, known as the Mendocino Lake Complex, in Lake and Mendocino counties that collectively threatens 1,000 structures, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Altogether, the two fires have destroyed 544 structures and damaged 40 structures while threatening another 1,000.

The Cascade, La Porte and Lobo fires make up one a blaze in Butte, Nevada and Yuba counties, collectively known as the Wind Complex, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Altogether, the three fires have destroyed 365 structures and damaged 57 others.

]]>Manhunt underway after two 'dangerous' prisoners escape from Missouri jailhttp://www.ksyl.com/national/84525d146c804414c71657594eabe8a5
Sun, 15 Oct 2017 21:17:00 -0500http://www.ksyl.com/national/84525d146c804414c71657594eabe8a5ABCNews.com(CARUTHERSVILLE, Mo.) -- A statewide manhunt is underway in Missouri after two prisoners, accused of violent crimes, escaped from jail just before 2 a.m. on Sunday, according to local authorities.

The two escaped from the Pemiscot County Jail through an air duct, arrived at a room to leave and then set off an alarm before jumping over a fence behind the building, Caruthersville, Missouri, Police Chief Tony Jones told ABC News. Surveillance footage in which they were last seen shows the pair heading towards the Mississippi River.

Police are calling the two "dangerous."

One of the escapees, William Carter, 27, is facing first degree murder charges. Investigators allege that he purposely ran down his estranged wife and a man with his car, killing both of them.

The other, Joseph Latamondeer, 41, was being held on several felony charges including an alleged kidnapping related to a violent domestic assault case.

Both were due to appear in court on Monday.

Captain Michael Coleman of the Pemiscot County Sheriff's Office told ABC News that authorities believe the two are still in the area. While the two are still at large, a search team, with dogs in tow, is currently out looking for them.

]]>ABCNews.com(CARUTHERSVILLE, Mo.) -- A statewide manhunt is underway in Missouri after two prisoners, accused of violent crimes, escaped from jail just before 2 a.m. on Sunday, according to local authorities.

The two escaped from the Pemiscot County Jail through an air duct, arrived at a room to leave and then set off an alarm before jumping over a fence behind the building, Caruthersville, Missouri, Police Chief Tony Jones told ABC News. Surveillance footage in which they were last seen shows the pair heading towards the Mississippi River.

Police are calling the two "dangerous."

One of the escapees, William Carter, 27, is facing first degree murder charges. Investigators allege that he purposely ran down his estranged wife and a man with his car, killing both of them.

The other, Joseph Latamondeer, 41, was being held on several felony charges including an alleged kidnapping related to a violent domestic assault case.

Both were due to appear in court on Monday.

Captain Michael Coleman of the Pemiscot County Sheriff's Office told ABC News that authorities believe the two are still in the area. While the two are still at large, a search team, with dogs in tow, is currently out looking for them.

]]>Family dog found tail wagging after wine country infernohttp://www.ksyl.com/national/c6cea7ea0ef1c64c43070060d27f40d3
Sun, 15 Oct 2017 19:09:00 -0500http://www.ksyl.com/national/c6cea7ea0ef1c64c43070060d27f40d3Jack Weaver(SANTA ROSA, Calif.) -- When one of Northern California's wildfires began tearing through a Santa Rosa neighborhood Kathy Weaver saw the flames engulfing their house and had to flee with the nothing but a nightgown.

She left behind everything, including her beloved 9-year-old Bernese Mountain dog Izzy.

"In the chaos of trying to escape, my parents' dog Izzy ran from them," Beckyjean Widen, Kathy's daughter, posted on Facebook. "My mom couldn't chase after her without risking her own life."

She added that her mother drove to safety through "walls of flames and across a burning wooden bridge" to stay alive.

The loss to her family's home was nothing compared to leaving behind their other family member.

"They lost everything, but my mom was most devastated about leaving Izzy," Widen added on the Facebook post.

So when her brother Jack Weaver and Widen's husband Patrick returned to the ruins expecting to recover Izzy's remains -- they disregarded police orders to steer clear and breached the barricade to take a three-mile hike, according to the Facebook post.

"There's so much smoke I can't show you the view," Weaver is heard saying in a video on the post.

Their effort reaped an incredible discovery.

Weaver recorded his walk along the paved driveway and showed how rows of vineyards appeared to remain perfectly green and unscathed, while a tractor was also spared.

Then as Weaver's breathing intensified, he and his brother's whistling and clapping became exaltation.

Out of the shrubs and cemented rock steps 30 feet away came a healthy and happy Izzy.

"Izzy here! Izzy," he said in the Facebook video. "Hey baby!"

"We didn’t expect to see her," Weaver said in an interview that aired on "Good Morning America" Sunday.

]]>Jack Weaver(SANTA ROSA, Calif.) -- When one of Northern California's wildfires began tearing through a Santa Rosa neighborhood Kathy Weaver saw the flames engulfing their house and had to flee with the nothing but a nightgown.

She left behind everything, including her beloved 9-year-old Bernese Mountain dog Izzy.

"In the chaos of trying to escape, my parents' dog Izzy ran from them," Beckyjean Widen, Kathy's daughter, posted on Facebook. "My mom couldn't chase after her without risking her own life."

She added that her mother drove to safety through "walls of flames and across a burning wooden bridge" to stay alive.

The loss to her family's home was nothing compared to leaving behind their other family member.

"They lost everything, but my mom was most devastated about leaving Izzy," Widen added on the Facebook post.

So when her brother Jack Weaver and Widen's husband Patrick returned to the ruins expecting to recover Izzy's remains -- they disregarded police orders to steer clear and breached the barricade to take a three-mile hike, according to the Facebook post.

"There's so much smoke I can't show you the view," Weaver is heard saying in a video on the post.

Their effort reaped an incredible discovery.

Weaver recorded his walk along the paved driveway and showed how rows of vineyards appeared to remain perfectly green and unscathed, while a tractor was also spared.

Then as Weaver's breathing intensified, he and his brother's whistling and clapping became exaltation.

Out of the shrubs and cemented rock steps 30 feet away came a healthy and happy Izzy.

"Izzy here! Izzy," he said in the Facebook video. "Hey baby!"

"We didn’t expect to see her," Weaver said in an interview that aired on "Good Morning America" Sunday.

]]>Hero dog protected goats, wild deer as wildfire 'decimated' farmhttp://www.ksyl.com/national/d46aece7074c70f94b66bf86c8eb2f2a
Sun, 15 Oct 2017 11:56:00 -0500http://www.ksyl.com/national/d46aece7074c70f94b66bf86c8eb2f2aDavid McNew/Getty Images(SANTA ROSA, Calif.) -- Roland Hendel and his family had just moments to escape the firestorm bearing down on their Sonoma County home.

But despite "exploding propane tanks, twisting metal, and the hot swirling winds," one of their beloved dogs refused to come with them. Instead, Odin, a Great Pyrenees, stayed with the family's eight "bottle-fed rescue goats" as the family and Odin's sister Tessa fled.

Hendel and his family were certain Odin and the goats were gone.

"Hours later when we had found relative safety we cried for Odin and our goats," Hendel wrote on the family's YouCaring crowdfunding page. "I was sure I had sentenced them to a horrific and agonizing death."

Days later, when it was safe for the Hendels to return to their charred home, they found "a burned, battered, and weakened Odin surrounded by his eight goats, and several small deer who had come to him for protection and safety," Hendel wrote.

Odin's now on the mend after his ordeal, but challenges remain for the Hendel family.

The blazes engulfing the area are among the deadliest in the state's history according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, charring more than 214,000 acres, forcing 100,000 residents to evacuate and damaging or destroying at least 5,700 homes and businesses -- including the Hendel's property.

All of the family's structures "were decimated, including the barn we had lovingly rebuilt," and the pumphouse, meaning no shelter or fresh water supply for the animals.

The Hendels are now racing to rebuild before winter hits so that Odin’s “bravery and sacrifice are not in vain.”

]]>David McNew/Getty Images(SANTA ROSA, Calif.) -- Roland Hendel and his family had just moments to escape the firestorm bearing down on their Sonoma County home.

But despite "exploding propane tanks, twisting metal, and the hot swirling winds," one of their beloved dogs refused to come with them. Instead, Odin, a Great Pyrenees, stayed with the family's eight "bottle-fed rescue goats" as the family and Odin's sister Tessa fled.

Hendel and his family were certain Odin and the goats were gone.

"Hours later when we had found relative safety we cried for Odin and our goats," Hendel wrote on the family's YouCaring crowdfunding page. "I was sure I had sentenced them to a horrific and agonizing death."

Days later, when it was safe for the Hendels to return to their charred home, they found "a burned, battered, and weakened Odin surrounded by his eight goats, and several small deer who had come to him for protection and safety," Hendel wrote.

Odin's now on the mend after his ordeal, but challenges remain for the Hendel family.

The blazes engulfing the area are among the deadliest in the state's history according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, charring more than 214,000 acres, forcing 100,000 residents to evacuate and damaging or destroying at least 5,700 homes and businesses -- including the Hendel's property.

All of the family's structures "were decimated, including the barn we had lovingly rebuilt," and the pumphouse, meaning no shelter or fresh water supply for the animals.

The Hendels are now racing to rebuild before winter hits so that Odin’s “bravery and sacrifice are not in vain.”

]]>27-year-old victim of Las Vegas shooting wakes up from coma, fundraiser heldhttp://www.ksyl.com/national/6005f60ade0359efb0d1ee6ca30d2638
Sun, 15 Oct 2017 00:44:00 -0500http://www.ksyl.com/national/6005f60ade0359efb0d1ee6ca30d2638iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- A fundraiser was held Saturday night in Maryland to help pay for the mounting medical bills for a 27-year-old woman who on Friday night woke up and took her first steps after being in coma since being injured in the Las Vegas mass shooting earlier this month.

A family spokesperson wrote on a Go FundMe page Friday set up for Tina Frost, that she had taken three steps to a chair, and three steps back to bed, with the assistance of nurses. The spokesperson also wrote that Frost breathed on her own for six hours.

Frost, a certified public accountant with Ernst & Young now living in San Diego, was shot in the head while attending the Route 91 Harvest festival in Las Vegas with her boyfriend and co-workers, when gunman Stephen Paddock fired into the crowd of festival-goers from a room at the Mandalay Bay. The bullet pierced the frontal lobes of her brain before ricocheting, landing in her right eye. Fifty-eight people were killed in the massacre, and nearly 500 people were injured.

"Today has also been a big day for our TT - she is now waking up!" the spokesperson wrote. "She opens her left eye just a lil and looks all around the room at us, taps her feet whenever music is playing, continues to squeeze our hands, and even gives [boyfriend] Austin [Hughes] a thumbs up when asked. She sometimes taps to music and also took her first steps today with the assistance of the nurses - 3 steps to the chair and 3 steps back to the bed."

The Go FundMe post continues, "She's obviously anxious to get her wobble back on. She also breathed on her own for a full 6 hours! We are so proud of our Tina, and everyone is amazed at every single movement she makes. EY San Diego sent a colorful RARE Science teddy bear that she hugs and pats on the back to show us she likes him :). The Jabbawockeez (won America’s Best Dance Crew) paid her a special visit today in her room and they also put on a little show for the hospital."

In terms of Frost's next steps, the spokesperson writes, "The doctors have been talking about Tina's next steps and are discussing other hospitals that will have all the specialists she'll need during her long road to recovery. She will be moving ICU to ICU, so the whole team will be on track with her recovery. Dr. Blum, Tina’s Neurosurgeon here at Sunrise is making sure that the facility Tina will be at next meets all the requirements she will need, both short term and long term and all the surgeries she will have over who knows how long. We'll know more soon about where we will be next. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers!"

The Go FundMe campaign as of Sunday morning had raised nearly $540,000, far surpassing its goal of $50,000.

According to ABC affiliate WJLA, dozens of people attended the fundraiser Saturday at Molly's Irish Pub in Crofton, Maryland, organized by Frost's high school friends Tara Beavers and Ali Shomper.

As part of the fundraiser, a golf bag and several other items were auctioned off.

"We just love her. She's a great person. We want to her help her out any way we can. We can't wait for her to get better," Beavers said, reported WJLA.

"Were happy with the turn out tonight," Shomper added at the fundraiser. "Every little bit counts. You know the bills are going to high. This is a great for us to pitch in."

A family spokesperson wrote on a Go FundMe page Friday set up for Tina Frost, that she had taken three steps to a chair, and three steps back to bed, with the assistance of nurses. The spokesperson also wrote that Frost breathed on her own for six hours.

Frost, a certified public accountant with Ernst & Young now living in San Diego, was shot in the head while attending the Route 91 Harvest festival in Las Vegas with her boyfriend and co-workers, when gunman Stephen Paddock fired into the crowd of festival-goers from a room at the Mandalay Bay. The bullet pierced the frontal lobes of her brain before ricocheting, landing in her right eye. Fifty-eight people were killed in the massacre, and nearly 500 people were injured.

"Today has also been a big day for our TT - she is now waking up!" the spokesperson wrote. "She opens her left eye just a lil and looks all around the room at us, taps her feet whenever music is playing, continues to squeeze our hands, and even gives [boyfriend] Austin [Hughes] a thumbs up when asked. She sometimes taps to music and also took her first steps today with the assistance of the nurses - 3 steps to the chair and 3 steps back to the bed."

The Go FundMe post continues, "She's obviously anxious to get her wobble back on. She also breathed on her own for a full 6 hours! We are so proud of our Tina, and everyone is amazed at every single movement she makes. EY San Diego sent a colorful RARE Science teddy bear that she hugs and pats on the back to show us she likes him :). The Jabbawockeez (won America’s Best Dance Crew) paid her a special visit today in her room and they also put on a little show for the hospital."

In terms of Frost's next steps, the spokesperson writes, "The doctors have been talking about Tina's next steps and are discussing other hospitals that will have all the specialists she'll need during her long road to recovery. She will be moving ICU to ICU, so the whole team will be on track with her recovery. Dr. Blum, Tina’s Neurosurgeon here at Sunrise is making sure that the facility Tina will be at next meets all the requirements she will need, both short term and long term and all the surgeries she will have over who knows how long. We'll know more soon about where we will be next. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers!"

The Go FundMe campaign as of Sunday morning had raised nearly $540,000, far surpassing its goal of $50,000.

According to ABC affiliate WJLA, dozens of people attended the fundraiser Saturday at Molly's Irish Pub in Crofton, Maryland, organized by Frost's high school friends Tara Beavers and Ali Shomper.

As part of the fundraiser, a golf bag and several other items were auctioned off.

"We just love her. She's a great person. We want to her help her out any way we can. We can't wait for her to get better," Beavers said, reported WJLA.

"Were happy with the turn out tonight," Shomper added at the fundraiser. "Every little bit counts. You know the bills are going to high. This is a great for us to pitch in."

It began with Langley, class of 1990, who started collecting supplies and toiletries the day after Hurricane Irma made landfall last month, the Coconut Creek, Florida resident told ABC News.

"Since the hurricane missed us, I realized that my neighbors and my surrounding communities had probably gone out to buy hurricane supplies that they weren't going to use," she explained.

She then told neighbors and friends via social media that she'd love to "collect all those unused hurricane relief supplies" to give to whose who really need them in Marathon.

After Langley, 44, began her efforts, her classmates from Marathon High School, who had also thought about ways to give back to their hard-hit community, wanted to join her.

They then "joined forces," Fenton, 43, told ABC News.

"It's better for the five of us to work together instead of doing competing efforts," she said.

With Halloween coming up, the alumni didn't want students in their childhood community to feel left out. Especially since Halloween is celebrated so widely in Marathon.

The annual Stanley Switlik Annual Halloween Carnival, held in the elementary school of the same name, kicks off the Halloween season every year. And this year, despite the hurricane, it will kick off festivities on Oct. 22, parent teacher organization president Ashley Keeney told ABC News.

"Halloween is huge down here," she said.

Keeney, whose daughter attends Switlik Elementary School in Marathon, is now partnering with the MM50 Relief Project to ensure every student has a Halloween costume this year.

"The reason why so much emphasis was put on [the Halloween festival] is those kids have been through so much and they really need a sense of normalcy at this point," Langley said.

"You get kind of emotional thinking about it, but it really is our home," Augustine added. "Once the storm went through and we had a chance to digest what really went on down there, there wasn't a question in my mind ... that we had to do what we could do to help."

So far, the organization has collected nearly 200 costumes and more than 650 pounds of candy to hand out to children.

Keeney, whose home was also damaged at the hands of Hurricane Irma, said this year they won't be charging residents to attend the festival. Previously, the festival was the school's biggest fundraiser, used to support teachers and offset costs for field trips and student activities, she said.

"However this year, since everyone's been severely impacted by Irma we didn’t want to charge anybody," she said. "We just want people to take a break from cleaning up and rebuilding."

]]>Stephenie Fenton(MARATHON, Fla.) -- Former Marathon, Florida, residents are returning to their community after it was ravaged by Hurricane Irma in hopes of ensuring children there are able to celebrate Halloween.

It began with Langley, class of 1990, who started collecting supplies and toiletries the day after Hurricane Irma made landfall last month, the Coconut Creek, Florida resident told ABC News.

"Since the hurricane missed us, I realized that my neighbors and my surrounding communities had probably gone out to buy hurricane supplies that they weren't going to use," she explained.

She then told neighbors and friends via social media that she'd love to "collect all those unused hurricane relief supplies" to give to whose who really need them in Marathon.

After Langley, 44, began her efforts, her classmates from Marathon High School, who had also thought about ways to give back to their hard-hit community, wanted to join her.

They then "joined forces," Fenton, 43, told ABC News.

"It's better for the five of us to work together instead of doing competing efforts," she said.

With Halloween coming up, the alumni didn't want students in their childhood community to feel left out. Especially since Halloween is celebrated so widely in Marathon.

The annual Stanley Switlik Annual Halloween Carnival, held in the elementary school of the same name, kicks off the Halloween season every year. And this year, despite the hurricane, it will kick off festivities on Oct. 22, parent teacher organization president Ashley Keeney told ABC News.

"Halloween is huge down here," she said.

Keeney, whose daughter attends Switlik Elementary School in Marathon, is now partnering with the MM50 Relief Project to ensure every student has a Halloween costume this year.

"The reason why so much emphasis was put on [the Halloween festival] is those kids have been through so much and they really need a sense of normalcy at this point," Langley said.

"You get kind of emotional thinking about it, but it really is our home," Augustine added. "Once the storm went through and we had a chance to digest what really went on down there, there wasn't a question in my mind ... that we had to do what we could do to help."

So far, the organization has collected nearly 200 costumes and more than 650 pounds of candy to hand out to children.

Keeney, whose home was also damaged at the hands of Hurricane Irma, said this year they won't be charging residents to attend the festival. Previously, the festival was the school's biggest fundraiser, used to support teachers and offset costs for field trips and student activities, she said.

"However this year, since everyone's been severely impacted by Irma we didn’t want to charge anybody," she said. "We just want people to take a break from cleaning up and rebuilding."

]]>Puerto Rico raises Hurricane Maria death toll to 48http://www.ksyl.com/national/a0e07b7b9237b59a36d06baec360717c
Sat, 14 Oct 2017 16:08:00 -0500http://www.ksyl.com/national/a0e07b7b9237b59a36d06baec360717cMario Tama/Getty Images(SAN JUAN) -- Hurricane Maria has been blamed for the deaths of at least 48 people in Puerto Rico since it roared ashore last month and knocked out power there, officials said.

Authorities there raised the death toll by 3 on Saturday based on a review of medical records. The number could increase as the medical examiner continues to review all deaths that occurred in hospitals on the U.S. island territory around the time that the powerful hurricane hit, according to Puerto Rico's Secretary of Public Security Hector Pesquera.

"We are reviewing each and every case to see if the storm was a direct or indirect cause," Pesquera told reporters, following a news conference in the San Juan. "I doubt seriously that we will have any direct at this juncture."

Maria made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in Puerto Rico on Sept. 20, turning roads into rivers and ripping roofs from homes.

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello said about 85 percent of the island was still without power Saturday. Meanwhile, 42 percent of cell phone customers in Puerto Rico don't have service and 36 percent of residents still don't have access to safe drinking water.

The goal is to restore electricity for half the island by mid-November and for 95 percent by mid-December, Rossello said.

]]>Mario Tama/Getty Images(SAN JUAN) -- Hurricane Maria has been blamed for the deaths of at least 48 people in Puerto Rico since it roared ashore last month and knocked out power there, officials said.

Authorities there raised the death toll by 3 on Saturday based on a review of medical records. The number could increase as the medical examiner continues to review all deaths that occurred in hospitals on the U.S. island territory around the time that the powerful hurricane hit, according to Puerto Rico's Secretary of Public Security Hector Pesquera.

"We are reviewing each and every case to see if the storm was a direct or indirect cause," Pesquera told reporters, following a news conference in the San Juan. "I doubt seriously that we will have any direct at this juncture."

Maria made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in Puerto Rico on Sept. 20, turning roads into rivers and ripping roofs from homes.

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello said about 85 percent of the island was still without power Saturday. Meanwhile, 42 percent of cell phone customers in Puerto Rico don't have service and 36 percent of residents still don't have access to safe drinking water.

The goal is to restore electricity for half the island by mid-November and for 95 percent by mid-December, Rossello said.

]]>Girl dies after falling from cruise ship's interior deck to one below in Miamihttp://www.ksyl.com/national/55a583dac01cdbedc5c0e8c80bf4a6d6
Sat, 14 Oct 2017 13:35:00 -0500http://www.ksyl.com/national/55a583dac01cdbedc5c0e8c80bf4a6d6Photodisc/Thinkstock(MIAMI) -- An 8-year-old girl died Saturday after falling from one deck in a cruise ship's interior atrium to a lower deck, officials said.

The girl, whose name has not been released, fell on the Carnival Glory cruise ship while it was docked at the Dante B. Fascell Port of Miami on Saturday morning, police said.

Miami Fire Rescue personnel responded to the scene around 8:15 a.m. ET and provided emergency care to the child. The girl was subsequently taken to the nearby Ryder Trauma Center, where she died from her injuries, according to the Miami-Dade Police Department.

Erika Benitez of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue told ABC News the girl was in critical condition when she arrived at the hospital.

It's unclear what led the child to fall. Homicide detectives are investigating the incident, police said.

Carnival Cruise Lines said the ship's command immediately contacted police after she fell, and transported her to the ship's medical center.

“Our most heartfelt care and concern is with the family at this very difficult time,” Carnival Cruise Lines spokesperson Jennifer de la Cruz said in a statement Saturday.

The girl, whose name has not been released, fell on the Carnival Glory cruise ship while it was docked at the Dante B. Fascell Port of Miami on Saturday morning, police said.

Miami Fire Rescue personnel responded to the scene around 8:15 a.m. ET and provided emergency care to the child. The girl was subsequently taken to the nearby Ryder Trauma Center, where she died from her injuries, according to the Miami-Dade Police Department.

Erika Benitez of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue told ABC News the girl was in critical condition when she arrived at the hospital.

It's unclear what led the child to fall. Homicide detectives are investigating the incident, police said.

Carnival Cruise Lines said the ship's command immediately contacted police after she fell, and transported her to the ship's medical center.

“Our most heartfelt care and concern is with the family at this very difficult time,” Carnival Cruise Lines spokesperson Jennifer de la Cruz said in a statement Saturday.

Intensified by strong winds and low humidity, the 17 wildfires as of today have charred more than 221,754 acres of land, forced more than 20,000 residents to evacuate and damaged or destroyed at least 3,500 homes and other structures, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The decreased number of blazes from 21 Thursday reflects the merging of several fires while three have been completely contained.

Santa Rosa, a city in Sonoma County known for its wineries, was among the hardest hit areas, with at least 2,834 homes destroyed. Critical infrastructure was also lost in the flames, including the city's fire station, Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Coursey said at a news conference Thursday afternoon.

The cause of the fires is still under investigation.

More than half the deaths from the fires occurred in Sonoma County alone, authorities said. Taken together, the death toll exceeds the number of fatalities in the 1933 Griffith Park Fire in Los Angeles, the deadliest wildfire in California's history, killing 29.

Authorities said an alert system put in place gave residents ample time to evacuate and likely prevented many deaths.

"We have a subscription service where we can alert our residents, and we did that right away, trying to notify everybody where the fire was, where it was going and how fast it was going, and I think it saved a lot of lives," Sonoma County Sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Crum told ABC News in an interview Tuesday.

About 400 people, most of whom are elderly, were unaccounted for in Sonoma County as of Thursday night, according to the sheriff's office. Out of about 1,100 missing person reports that have been filed since the fires began, about 745 people have been safely located. The sheriff's office said some of the reports may be duplicates.

With mandatory evacuation orders and road closures still underway, many residents in the affected areas have been warned not to return to their homes until further notice.

California Gov. Jerry Brown has declared states of emergency for Napa, Sonoma and Yuba counties in Northern California.

"Life is more important than property," Sonoma County Sheriff Robert Giordano said at a news conference Tuesday.

Another round of gusty winds and dry air

While overall containment of the flames has increased, a large weather system moving into the region today will bring another round of gusty winds and low humidity to the state over the weekend. Gusts could reach up to 60 mph in some areas late tonight into Saturday, while daytime humidity could be as low as 10 percent.

The combination of strong winds, dry air and warm temperatures will create "critical fire weather conditions" and "contribute to extreme fire behavior," the National Weather Service warned.

Red flag warnings for gusty winds and low humidity remain in effect across the fire areas and much of northern California. The conditions will challenge the more than 8,000 firefighters working to snuff the flames and prevent new wildfires from igniting.

With firefighters stretched thin throughout the state, hundreds of additional fire engines and personnel have been requested from other states to help relieve crews on the front lines and be prepared for the possibility of more blazes, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Most of the flames ignited on the night of Oct. 8 or during the early morning hours of Oct. 9.

Here's a roundup of the largest fires still threatening California:

Central LNU Complex fires

The so-called Tubbs, Pocket, Nuns/Adobe/Norbbom, Pressley fires are considered branches of one giant inferno — collectively known as the Central LNU Complex — in Napa and Sonoma counties. Nearly 34,000 structures are threatened, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Altogether, the four fires have destroyed 1,063 structures and damaged 48 others.

Tubbs fire: 4,770 acres burned in Napa County; 25 percent contained as of Friday morning; at least 571 structures destroyed; responsible for a majority of the fire-related deaths this week.

The Atlas and Patrick fires make up another huge blaze, known as the Southern LNU Complex, in Napa and Solano counties that collectively threatens 5,000 structures, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Altogether, the two fires have destroyed 181 structures and damaged 27 others.

The Redwood/Potter fires and the Sulphur fire make up a giant blaze, known as the Mendocino Lake Complex, in Lake and Mendocino counties that collectively threatens 1,000 structures, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Altogether, the two fires have destroyed 369 structures and damaged another 43.

The Cascade, La Porte, Lobo and McCourtney fires make up one huge blaze in Butte, Nevada and Yuba counties, collectively known as the Wind Complex, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Altogether, the four fires have destroyed 366 structures and damaged 13 others.

Intensified by strong winds and low humidity, the 17 wildfires as of today have charred more than 221,754 acres of land, forced more than 20,000 residents to evacuate and damaged or destroyed at least 3,500 homes and other structures, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The decreased number of blazes from 21 Thursday reflects the merging of several fires while three have been completely contained.

Santa Rosa, a city in Sonoma County known for its wineries, was among the hardest hit areas, with at least 2,834 homes destroyed. Critical infrastructure was also lost in the flames, including the city's fire station, Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Coursey said at a news conference Thursday afternoon.

The cause of the fires is still under investigation.

More than half the deaths from the fires occurred in Sonoma County alone, authorities said. Taken together, the death toll exceeds the number of fatalities in the 1933 Griffith Park Fire in Los Angeles, the deadliest wildfire in California's history, killing 29.

Authorities said an alert system put in place gave residents ample time to evacuate and likely prevented many deaths.

"We have a subscription service where we can alert our residents, and we did that right away, trying to notify everybody where the fire was, where it was going and how fast it was going, and I think it saved a lot of lives," Sonoma County Sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Crum told ABC News in an interview Tuesday.

About 400 people, most of whom are elderly, were unaccounted for in Sonoma County as of Thursday night, according to the sheriff's office. Out of about 1,100 missing person reports that have been filed since the fires began, about 745 people have been safely located. The sheriff's office said some of the reports may be duplicates.

With mandatory evacuation orders and road closures still underway, many residents in the affected areas have been warned not to return to their homes until further notice.

California Gov. Jerry Brown has declared states of emergency for Napa, Sonoma and Yuba counties in Northern California.

"Life is more important than property," Sonoma County Sheriff Robert Giordano said at a news conference Tuesday.

Another round of gusty winds and dry air

While overall containment of the flames has increased, a large weather system moving into the region today will bring another round of gusty winds and low humidity to the state over the weekend. Gusts could reach up to 60 mph in some areas late tonight into Saturday, while daytime humidity could be as low as 10 percent.

The combination of strong winds, dry air and warm temperatures will create "critical fire weather conditions" and "contribute to extreme fire behavior," the National Weather Service warned.

Red flag warnings for gusty winds and low humidity remain in effect across the fire areas and much of northern California. The conditions will challenge the more than 8,000 firefighters working to snuff the flames and prevent new wildfires from igniting.

With firefighters stretched thin throughout the state, hundreds of additional fire engines and personnel have been requested from other states to help relieve crews on the front lines and be prepared for the possibility of more blazes, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Most of the flames ignited on the night of Oct. 8 or during the early morning hours of Oct. 9.

Here's a roundup of the largest fires still threatening California:

Central LNU Complex fires

The so-called Tubbs, Pocket, Nuns/Adobe/Norbbom, Pressley fires are considered branches of one giant inferno — collectively known as the Central LNU Complex — in Napa and Sonoma counties. Nearly 34,000 structures are threatened, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Altogether, the four fires have destroyed 1,063 structures and damaged 48 others.

Tubbs fire: 4,770 acres burned in Napa County; 25 percent contained as of Friday morning; at least 571 structures destroyed; responsible for a majority of the fire-related deaths this week.

The Atlas and Patrick fires make up another huge blaze, known as the Southern LNU Complex, in Napa and Solano counties that collectively threatens 5,000 structures, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Altogether, the two fires have destroyed 181 structures and damaged 27 others.

The Redwood/Potter fires and the Sulphur fire make up a giant blaze, known as the Mendocino Lake Complex, in Lake and Mendocino counties that collectively threatens 1,000 structures, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Altogether, the two fires have destroyed 369 structures and damaged another 43.

The Cascade, La Porte, Lobo and McCourtney fires make up one huge blaze in Butte, Nevada and Yuba counties, collectively known as the Wind Complex, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Altogether, the four fires have destroyed 366 structures and damaged 13 others.